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Further to the north-west in Ohio, a cold front will bring risk of severe thunderstorms with hail and roaring winds.

Across the plains of the mid-west, there will be an increased chance of rain and thunderstorms today. While the main concerns
in these areas are damaging wind gusts and hail, localized tornadoes cannot be ruled out.

Violent: Lightning rolls across the sky in Newport, Virginia as millions lost power in the mid-Atlantic region

Ominous: Thrill-seekers enjoy a ride at the State Fair in New Jersey as the sky darkens in the background

Gimme shelter: Marcia McCloud, right, and her great-granddaughter Makayla Milton, find some comfort at the Red Cross cooling shelter at Sandusky Middle School in Lynchburg, Virginia

The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado swept through Hanover County in Virginia at the weekend.

Winds reached up to 80 miles per hour as the twister blew down numerous trees along at four-and-a-half-mile path.

The tornado touched down at 8:11 pm on Saturday in Mechanicsville and traveled south/southeast for ten minutes before it lifted. There was minimal structural damage.

Sweltering: The hot weather is set to continue into next week forcing three million without power to seek refuge in public places with air conditioning

Summer in the city: Children beat the heat in the fountain at Washington Square Park in Manhattan on Sunday

In Washington D.C., massive storms
have left a path of destruction with a heat wave complicating matters.
Power officials said the outages wouldn't be repaired for up to a week.

Emergencies have been declared in
Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, Washington, D.C, and Virginia.
Governor of Virginia Bob McDonnell said the state had its largest non-hurricane
outage in history, as more storms threatened. 'This is a very dangerous
situation,' he added.

In the north-east of the country from
Indiana to New Jersey, and further south in Virginia, officials warned
the heat wave could take a toll on the elderly, young or sick.

Problems from the storms during the
triple-digit heat wave ranged from a damaged prison in Illinois to
felled trees lying across train tracks. Some 232 passengers on an Amtrak train were stranded for more
than 20 hours in West Virginia on Friday.

The storm that whipped through the
region was called a derecho - a straight-line wind system that sweeps over a large area at high speed.

Danger: A child looks at a house damaged by a tree after a violent thunderstorm ripped through Falls Church, Virginia on Saturday

Lighting flashes Saturday morning, June, 30, 2012 in Hebron Maryland

Mike Wolfe's pickup truck lies under a fallen tree in front of his house after a severe storm in Falls Church, Virginia. Visible is a tongue-in-cheek 'for sale' sign

The
storm, which saw gusts of up to 90mph began in the Midwest,
passed over the Appalachian Mountains and then drew strength from a
high pressure system as it hit the southeastern U.S., said Bryan
Jackson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

The storm did damage from Indiana to
New Jersey, although the bulk of it was in West Virginia, Washington, Virginia and Maryland.

At least six people were killed
in Virginia, including a 90-year-old woman asleep in her bed when a tree
slammed into her home.

Two young cousins in New Jersey were killed when a tree fell on their tent while camping.

The Department of Environmental
Protection said the boys were killed early on Saturday at Parvin State
Park in southwestern New Jersey's Salem County.

Authorities said the boys' families
had been camping together when the storm hit and to be safer
the families decided to huddle together in one tent.

Dark and stormy: Clouds roll over Lisle, lllinois, as a storm moves into the Chicago area today

John Sullivan, above, and his father Tony Sullivan, below, of JL Tree Service, work to remove a tree felled by the storm that damaged a house at the corner of Milton and Montrose in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday

Two were killed in Maryland, one in Ohio, one in Kentucky and one in Washington.

In Washington's northern Virginia
suburbs, emergency 911 call centers were out of service. Residents were
told to call local police and fire departments.

Huge trees toppled across streets in
the nation's capital, crumpling cars. Cell phone, cable TV and internet service
was patchy, gas pumps dried up and homeowners were urged to conserve
water.

The power outages were especially dangerous because they left the region without air conditioning in an oppressive heat wave.

Temperatures soared to highs in the
mid-90s Saturday in Baltimore and Washington, a day after readings of up
to 104 degrees were reported in the region.

Three Baltimore City fire companies set to permanently close this week were staying open several more days to help cope.

A two-alarm fire started by a lightning strike from a thunderstorm late Friday night engulfs a home north of Frederick, Maryland early Saturday

Utility officials said it could take
at least several days to restore power to all customers because of the
sheer magnitude of the outages and destruction.

Winds and toppled trees
brought down entire power lines, and debris has to be cleared from power
stations and other structures.

'The devastation ... is very
significant,' New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said after ordering the
National Guard to deliver fuel for generators and fresh water to
stricken areas. He reported that power had been restored to Atlantic City's casinos.

Destruction: The storm that whipped through the region Friday night was called a derecho (duh-RAY'-choh) , a straight line wind system that sweeps over a large area at high speed

Fallen trees: Tyler Taylor, 14, of Falls Church, Virginia, walks across a large downed tree in his neighbourhood after the massive storm struck on Friday night

No one was injured, Solano said.
Generators are providing power to the prison, which is locked down,
confining remaining inmates to their cells.

In Indiana, a toppled tree crushed the top of Vicki Hunt's car and smashed the back window.

'It came so fast,' the Fort Wayne
woman told broadcaster WPTA-TV. 'All of a sudden all you heard was a
swoosh, and next thing you know the tree fell ... we heard a big crash,
which obviously was my car.'

In West Virginia, 232 Amtrak
passengers were stranded Friday night on a train blocked on both sides
of the tracks by toppled trees.

Brooke Richart, a 26-year-old teacher
from New York City, was among the passengers stranded for 20 hours. She
read half a book and took walks outside the train, which had light, air
conditioning and food the entire time. But she called the wait 'trying.'

'Thankfully we could go in and out of
the train because we were there so long. If you wanted to stretch your
legs or take a walk, you could,' she said.

Amtrak spokesman Steve Kulm said passengers were taken away by buses Saturday night.

Crumbled: Resident David Fetchko surveys the damage done to the apartment of his girlfriend in Richmond, Virgina today

Surveying damage: Debris and downed trees are cluttering the streets in Northwest Virginia after massive storms blew through Washington DC

Some major online services also saw delays and disruptions.

Netflix, Instagram and Pinterest
resorted to using Twitter and Facebook to update subscribers after
violent storms across the eastern U.S. caused server outages for hours.
Netflix and Pinterest restored service by Saturday afternoon.

Instagram used its Facebook fan page
to communicate with users of its photo-sharing service. It posted a
message on Saturday morning that blamed the electrical storm for the
outage that sent its engineers scrambling to restore service.

Meanwhile, utilities said they were struggling to restore power amid the heat wave.

Myra Oppel, a spokeswoman for the
utility Pepco, reported over 400,000 outages in Washington and its
suburbs. 'We do understand the hardship that this brings, especially
with the heat as intense at is. We will be working around the clock
until we get the last customer on.'

In Charleston, W.Va., firefighters
helped several people using walkers and wheelchairs get to emergency
shelters. One of them, David Gunnoe, uses a wheelchair and had to spend
the night in the community room of his apartment complex because the
power -- and his elevator -- went out. Rescuers went up five floors to
retrieve his medication.

Others sought refuge in shopping malls, movie theaters and other places where the air conditioning would be cranked up.

A capitol mess: Storm-damaged trees litter the east lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington June 30 after wind gusts clocked at speeds of up to 79 mph

Not fair: A passing storm brought a halt to rides at the Italian-American Festival in Canton, Ohio. A wave of violent storms sweeping the country has left more than 2million without power

Hot and hazy: Crowds of people attempt to beat the heat on Sunday by heading to Coney Island in Brooklyn

In Richmond, Virginia, Tracey Phalen relaxed with her teenage son under the shade of a coffee-house umbrella rather than suffer through the stifling heat of her house, which lost power.

'We'll probably go to a movie theater at the top of the day,' she said.

Phalen said Hurricane Irene left her home dark for six days last summer, 'and this is reminiscent of that,' she said.

Others scheduled impromptu 'staycations' or took shelter with friends and relatives.

Scorcher: A group of children beat the heat in the water at the Scull Island water park at Six Flags Over Georgia in Atlanta

At the AT&T National in Bethesda, Maryland, trees cracked at their trunks crashed onto the 14th hole and onto ropes that had lined the fairways.

The third round of play was suspended for several hours Saturday and was closed to volunteers and spectators.

Mark Russell, the PGA Tour's vice president of rules and competition, couldn't remember another time that a tour event was closed to fans.

'It's too dangerous out here,' Russell said. 'There's a lot of huge limbs. There's a lot of debris. It's like a tornado came through here. It's just not safe.'

The outages disrupted service for many subscribers to Netflix, Instagram and Pinterest when the storm cut power to some of Amazon Inc.'s operations.

On Friday, the nation's capital
reached 104 degrees - topping a record of 101 set in 1934. Temperatures
also soared to 118 degrees in Norton Dam, Kansas, an all-time high.

More than 20 elderly residents at an apartment home in Indianapolis were displaced when the facility lost power due to a downed tree.

Most were bused to a Red Cross facility to spend the night, and others who depend on oxygen assistance were given other accommodations, the fire department said.

West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin
declared a state of emergency after more than 500,000 customers in 27
counties were left without electricity.

THE AFTERMATH: DEALING WITH 100-DEGREES WITH NO POWER

The National Weather Service warned temperatures could climb near or above 100 degrees on Saturday in many areas that already were without electricity.

Thousands were without electricity in their homes and were seeking refuge in movie theaters, shopping malls, restaurants and official cooling centers.

Forecasters warned that another round of storms was possible in the afternoon, which could complicate cleanup efforts.

At least four utility poles fell on a
road in Columbus, Ohio, making it too dangerous for people in four cars
to get out, police said. One person was taken to a hospital.

Amtrak suspended its service from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia due to the storms, at least until mid-morning. In the Washington, D.C., area, the Metrorail subway trains were returned to their endpoints due to the storms and related damage, officials said.

'It has had a widespread effect on the region,' Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said early Saturday.

He said about 17 train stations were operating on backup power due to local power outages, but that he didn't anticipate service being disrupted on Saturday.

The fierce heat had spread east from the central U.S., where temperatures continued to rewrite record books.

Many areas of the country have suffered days of high temperatures and little rain, which have contributed to deadly and destructive fires in Colorado.

Fun: Charnice Hoegnifioh, 10, of Round Lake Beach, Illinois, gets water squirted in her face to cool down

The temperature in Nashville on Friday reached 109 degrees, smashing a record high for the city of 107 degrees reached on July 27 and July 28, 1952.

The entire state of Arkansas is in a drought, and many fireworks displays had been canceled for the week of the July 4 for fear of fire.

Agriculture experts said cattle, fish and chickens through the state have died as a result of the heat.

In Indiana, where temperatures topped 100 this week, state health officials logged 46 heat-related complaints on Thursday. The state averages 62 heat-related hospital visits per week in late June and early July.

'We encourage people who don't have air conditioning to retreat to public areas, libraries, shopping malls, swimming pools or other areas that are cool to allow them to protect themselves,' Indiana State Health Commissioner Gregory Larkin said.

Doctors in Jackson, Mississippi, have seen the number of patients presenting with heat-related symptoms double since temperatures soared to 100 degrees on Friday.

Video: Colorado residents return to their homes to find them burned to the ground

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U.S. Weather: Three killed in North Carolina storm as D.C. to be in the dark for days